How to download and install device drivers for your Dell Inspiron PC [tutorial]

Computers are made up of both hardware and software. Windows operating system is often referred to as the software but there’s another type of software that most people fail to understand fully and it’s called a driver. Every hardware component like a video card, sound card, network adapter, USB port, needs a driver in order to communicate with the operating system and vice versa. Drivers are basically small set  of codes written designed to work with a particular operating system version. Thus, drivers may need to be updated from time, especially after installing another generation of Windows. Without drivers or having the correct one, a piece of hardware may not work properly or at all. If a device driver is outdated or corrupted, it can also contribute to poor performance, which can eventually slow the entire system down.

Your Dell PC regularly receives updates from Dell but some drivers may come from Microsoft as well. Ideally, your computer should automatically install needed drivers and updates on its own. All Dell computers and tablets can install an application called Dell System Detect that should help you pick the right driver versions and updates. Dell System Detect still needs your permission before it can download and install drivers and updates though.

Before we proceed to the main topic though, we would like to remind you that we accept requests for assistance regarding their Windows computers. If you have a problem that you can’t seem to find a solution to, send us your issue by following the link at the bottom of this page. Just remember, windows problems can sometimes be difficult to diagnose so kindly make sure that you give us very detailed description of the problem. You want to mention relevant history that may have led to the issue. The more information that you can provide, the higher the chance of us diagnosing the issue more efficiently. We also expect that you mention whatever troubleshooting step/s that you may have done before contacting us in order to prevent repeating them in our article. Again, the more details you can give us, the faster it is for us to pinpoint the cause and its corresponding solution.

Now, If you want to update the device manually, you can do so by following the steps below:

    1. Open your computer browser and go to this site.
    2. Identify your Dell product by clicking on Detect Product and install the Dell Detect application by following the prompts on the screen. If you can’t install Dell System Detect for whatever reason, you can either enter the Service Tag, Express Service Code or Serial number for your Dell product and click Submit. You can also select your Dell product manually by clicking on View Products.
    3. Click Detect Drivers to allow Dell to automatically scan your PC and list available drivers. If you want to manually search for drivers of individual components, you can use any of these steps: 
      • Keyword search box by entering a keyword of the driver like Audio, Video, BIOS, Chipset, etc.
      • Operating System & Category filters by selecting the operating system running in your PC and choosing the driver category.
    4. Click the download icon next to the driver of your choice and save the file. You may have to click View More to see more drivers. 
    5. Using File Explorer (also known as Windows Explorer), browse to the location where the downloaded file was saved.
    6. Double-click on the .exe driver installation file and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation process.
    7. Some device drivers may require you to reboot the PC to complete the installation process.

 

 

 


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